Volvo Cars invests in battery technology company StoreDot
Volvo Cars has – via its venture capital arm – made an investment in StoreDot, an Israeli company developing extreme-fast charging battery technology for electric cars.
StoreDot is working on a technology that – according to the company – should result in batteries that can charge to 160km of pure electric range in just five minutes. The investment gives Volvo Cars the opportunity to collaborate closely with StoreDot on new battery technology.
By working together with Volvo Cars, StoreDot aims to accelerate the time to market for its technology and it targets mass production by 2024. The collaboration between both companies will mainly take place within the battery technology joint venture that Volvo Cars established last year with Swedish battery maker Northvolt. Through its investment in StoreDot, Volvo Cars has also secured access to any resulting technology from the collaboration, a press release reads.
“We aim to be the fastest transformer in our industry and the Tech Fund plays a crucial role in establishing partnerships with future technology leaders,” says Alexander Petrofski, head of the Volvo Cars Tech Fund, in the press release. “Our investment in StoreDot perfectly fits that mindset and their commitment to electrification and carbon-free mobility matches our own. We’re excited to make this a successful collaboration for both parties and work towards bringing this groundbreaking technology to the market.”
StoreDot’s battery development is centered around a silicon-dominant anode technology and related software integration.
Volvo's joint venture with Northvolt will focus on both development and manufacturing of battery cells, specifically developed and tailor-made for use in next generation pure electric Volvo and Polestar cars. As part of the approximately SEK 30 billion (EUR 2.9 billion) investment in the joint venture, both companies are establishing a joint R&D centre and a battery manufacturing plant in the Gothenburg area in Sweden. Together, the facilities will create over 3,000 new jobs.
